So Where's Carmen This Time?

Carmen Sandiego and her gang of international thieves are on the loose again. In this caper she has stolen a time machine. so you not only have to find out where she is but when too.

Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego? is the fourth release in Brøderbund's Carmen Sandiego geography/detective game series. Designed to bring history to life by letting you experience it, this program has you working for the Acme Detective Agency once again. But instead of chasing Carmen around the world, you chase her though time periods ranging from 400 A.D. through the 1950s..

"People are always suggesting where to send Carmen next," said Jenay Cottrell, a Broderbund spokesperson. "The most common request was to send her into space, but there really wasn't enough information to do that. So we went with the second-most-popular request, time."

The series teaches geography and history by letting players travel across the world and through time gathering clues as to Carmen's location. Clues include topography, historical events, languages, cities and countries, and people and events. With over 1500 locations described in each game there's a lot to learn.

"This is our best-selling series," Cottrell explained. "All three programs are consistently in the top ten in the school market".

The programs are so well liked that Broderbund has a large file of letters containing praise and suggestions. Because the letters showed that kids especially liked the detective aspects of the game, the designers played up that part in the latest release. For example, when you start Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?. you have to find your way through the Acme Detective Agency's building as you go to work in the morning and eventually locate a cup of coffee before you begin tracing Carmen's trail.

Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego? is slated to ship this month for IBM PC and compatibles and the Apple II. Both versions will carry a pricetag of $44.95. The MS-DOS and VGA graphics. School editions, with a teacher's guide and backup disk will be available for $54.95; and a lab pack with a teacher's guide and five sets of disks will retail for $109.95.